Sisters!

Sisters are the best. 

I am very very blessed to have the sisters I do, I love them to pieces. So when Brian and Schuyler planned a hike I was excited that Jaime and the kids were going to come up. And just because Kyle and Lance weren't hiking, they were working so I was thrilled when Kayla and Jenny were willing to come and hang at the Holcomb house. Our home is not large and we only have 3 rooms, but everyone was flexible and willing to make it work which I appreciated so much. 

Cuddling my Zoey

Porter was such a good sport to hang with so many girls this weekend. Fortunately he had Jax and Ames to help balance it out :)

Such a good big cousin

She is so good at smiling when I ask her too :) And still getting use to that toothless smile!

I took Jax and the girls to the park so Jenny and Zoey could snooze

These two...not only do they love being naked, they love playing together and it's just the sweetest

Zoey girl did lots of this and man I could watch her forever

Zoey Rae...Chanel ;) Get it, see what we did there? I take no credit, it was all Zack (Lance's friend)

Oh Ames, how that smile cures any cranky 3 year old

So so happy! 

Bria is such a mini me, she would not leave Ames alone. And asked constantly if she could hold Zoey. Jenny was so sweet and willing to let her, but I wasn't super excited about the extra sharing I had to do ;)
She would also follow Ames around and attempt to make him laugh every chance she got.

Stud muffin!

 We didn't do too much besides hang out and get a little shopping in, but I just love being able to spend time with family. It may seem chaotic to some but honestly I love the memories my girls are making with their cousins. And man were they wiped out!

Bria slept in bed with me and Reese slept on a mat right beside my bed. I actually loved crawling into bed each night with these two sound asleep next to me, so comforting.

Oh those summer days

Although this summer has been busy, its seemed pretty long. Probably because our summer weather started in May (usually it starts in July). We have had a few cloudy days lately and it's been a nice break from the 90 + days. 

At the park with the Inukai girls while Bria was at school, shhh, don't tell her!

I love how kids hold hands

Bria officially changed her smile drastically, goodbye front tooth!

This was a bit traumatic. She did not want to pull it until it was super lose, which made eating painful. She would muster up some courage, have me tie dental floss around it and then freak out. She would beg me to take the floss off but NOT pull her tooth. I wasn't sure I would be able to but I wanted to gain her trust so somehow I manage to loosen the floss and then ever so carefully cut off the floss. This happened 3 times... 3 TIMES. Finally it was loose enough and after I tied it on she requested me to leave her alone. So I did.

3 seconds later she calmly but excitedly exclaimed, "I did it."

I could instantly tell a change in her demeanor, she really had been all sorts of stressed and worried about pulling her tooth out. Oh boy, with this only being her 4th tooth out, it's going to be a long road. 

The other day I took Reese to the dermatologist. I had her birth mark looked at when she was about a year and a half, just to make sure it looked normal. They said it did but to come back and have it checked to make sure it was growing at a normal rate. Well because we switched insurance I couldn't go back to the same place, which was fine, I didn't have a special tie to it. Anyway, I finally made an appointment and got her in.
The little robes kill me, I should've put it in my purse and taken it home!
The doctor said right away she wasn't worried about it. Even after looking at it with her special tool (that looks like a kaleidoscope) she was very definite that it was nothing to be concerned about. Completely benign and even the different freckles inside are totally fine. No need to keep checking it unless it drastically changes. Phew!
Here are some pictures of it over the years:

If you can stop looking at those incredible eyes or adorable lips, good luck ;)

It was definitely a lot lighter when she was a baby

Now its darker and bigger

It doesn't bother her and when little kids ask what it is she has no problem telling them. She's like, "It's a birthmark, duh." haha. Glad it's nothing to worry about and we love her cutie mark :)

Mono E Mono

Nate invited us to tag along with them to Lincoln City for a weekend at their beach house. Bria had a birthday party on Saturday but Brian and I thought it would be fun if just him and Reese headed to the beach and Bria and I stayed home for a girls weekend.

Both girls were thrilled to have one on one time with their parents. Reese woke up bright and early with a smile on her face, all ready for her beach vacation with Daddy :)

I braided her hair the night before so when she woke up it would be all cute and crimped.

And I sent her in Dad's favorite: overalls

 They were both pretty excited to get on the road...

I got pictures throughout the weekend and it sounded like she had the time of her life.

My sweet little beach babe

Charlotte enjoying the beach...clearly Reese had sand in every crevice of her body after this

The beach was super exhausting

A little hot tubing!

While those two were enjoying themselves at the beach, Bria and I had fabulous girl time. Started off the morning by going on a run with Lark and Penny and Will (Lark's brother), they were both nice enough to take turns pushing the stroller. Then we got ready and headed to the store to get a present for her friend, Leah. I dropped her off at the party where she continued to have a blast and I did school clothes shopping for her, thank you Gap and H&M.

I picked her up and we went to the pool at Lark's. It was fun to be with just her and play in the water with her. After swimming we got ready and went to PF Changs. I had a blast going to dinner with just her and she even tried my sushi. She wasn't a huge fan but she didn't hate it, I was just thrilled she tried it.

Mesmorized

After dinner we went and got candy and such from Target and went home to watch Disney's Descendants. She got to stay up late which she said was her favorite part, and then she slept with me in bed. 

Sunday we got her school supplies and backpack which was very exciting for her. She picked an Elsa backpack and lunch bag, that came with a free pair of Elsa gloves. Which the girls have been fighting over ever since. Good thing Reese's birthday is next month, I know what to get her!
Anyway, we all had a good time and I think everyone needed it!

Lots of babyness

We have been able to see our sweet nieces and nephews a lot this summer and I am very grateful for that. My girls adore their cousins and always have so much fun. 

Bria has inherited my obsession with babies and I have to fight her now if I want a turn holding the babies, dang it!

Matching cousins!

Jenny came up with both kiddos (super mom!) and took Jax to get his haircut. Reese tagged along because she loves going and I got to stay home with sweet Zoey.

I'm slightly obsessed with her cuteness

So happy to be with her Aunt Lulu

 We have also headed down to Albany a lot and we get to snuggle on Ames a ton which just makes our day...

I mean...that smile kills me!!!!

So happy to be able to hold him!

Obsessed with him!

 Ames is at such a fun age and the girls love making him smile and laugh...so do I :) He is such a busy boy and is already crawling and pulling up on everything. Lance and Kayla are in trouble because he is FAST!!

Giving baby Zoey loves

 I took Jax and the girls to the park one afternoon to give Jenny time to sleep. I don't think she slept at all the little turkey...but was productive around the house. So hard balancing that with a new baby!

So cute I can't take it

I mean, come on! She is heavenly.

Bria has been in summer school the last two weeks, although they call it Camp Achieve to try and encourage kids to like it :) It's 3 days a week for 3 hours, for 3 weeks. I think she has liked it for the most part, the math part she says is boring and she gets frustrated easily. We are definitely going to focus on helping her get through her frustration. Her teacher last year mentioned to me that if she can't solve something she gets frustrated and impatient. I was like, isn't that normal? haha...I'm so use to it I forget that some kids handle it calmly. So yeah, any suggestions as to how to help my child calm the heck down would be appreciated...I'm nearly at my wits end and school hasn't even started!
Reese and I have been enjoying park time together while Bria is at school. I love being able to focus on her and make her feel special. Her constant request is Starbucks. I have such a hard time saying no because I want it too!
Reese and Penny have been playing so well together too, they run back and forth and laugh and laugh. I don't understand the game but they sure do and they love it so I'm happy.
All in all, summer is moving at lightning speed and soon I will be doing school supply shopping and my favorite...school clothes!!!

High Rollin'

So we were suppose to do this hike with Scott and Randi. Brian was all excited to show our friends his love of hiking, we invited the Buell's too but they couldn't make it.

As it got closer we were wondering if they were still excited and still wanted to actually rough it for two days in the mountain. 

Well, Scott sent Brian a text and politely offered up an irresistible counter offer: go with them to Laguna Niguel...in a private jet nonetheless. Brian knew better than to turn down that offer. He surprised me with the news and I was ecstatic.

As much as we were looking forward to being off the grid and roughing it, we couldn't say no and so away we went for a little California getaway. 

Now I don't ever want to fly commercial, I think that might be a problem.

We dined on delicious food and wonderful service the first night and every morning woke up to room service. For real, I was dreaming for sure.

So, what did we do the first day there? After working out whilst staring at the beach, we devoured our room service and then went.to.DISNEYLAND!
Sans kids!
WHAT?!

It was magical. Don't get me wrong, seeing your children in awe and so happy is a wonderful feeling. But also, getting to ride the adult rides with your friends is pretty spectacular too.

A little swings to cool us off on the hot day!

California Screamin'!!! We screamed, then rode it again, loved it!

We walked back and forth between California Adventure and Disneyland to hit up our Fast Pass rides. We did Tower of Terror, Cars (twice), California Screamin' (twice), Thunder Mountain, the Matterhorn (ouch, that roller coaster is flippin' old), the swings, Toy Story, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Safari one (Brian won't hear the end of that bad call), and well...did a crap ton!

"Hmmm, what dat you say?"

Have to do the obligatory stunting picture

Don't smile Brian!

We soaked it in and didn't leave until 11 pm. My calves were so sore and it was so worth it.
When we woke up the next morning Brian said he couldn't believe that when Randi and I went with all 4 girls we would get up and do it again, ha! Although we weren't staying out until 11 pm with the girls, pushing a double jogging stroller was still pretty crazy.
The rest of our vacation was spent poolside where I promptly burned myself to a crisp. Score, go me. We visited Fashion Island, walked on the beach, got a couples massage, and just had a grand old time.

View from our room

 Now I have some incredible memories and a nasty sunburn to remember our Paradise getaway...